Island



(No Model.)

' W. G. WOOD.

LIFE PRBSERYING CUSHION. No. 264,814. Patented Sept. 19, 1882.

INVENTCIR:

N. PETERS. Phulo-mhognphcr. Wnhingium 174 c,

clear, true, and complete description of my in- UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

WILLIAM C. \VOOD, OF VVASHINGT-ON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR. TOTHE NATIONAL RUBBER COMPANY, OF BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND.

LlFE-PRESERVI NG CIUS'HION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 264,814, datedSeptember 1.9, 1882. Application filed April 3, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM 0. W001), of thecity of Washington, in the District of Golumbia, have invented certainnew and useful 5 Improvements in Ships Cushions, Mattresses,

850., for Life-Saving Purposes; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnishedandforming a part of the same, is a vention.

It is well known thatair-filled cushions and other similar articles havelong been known and used; but it is equally well known that when in useas cushions or mattresses such articles, as heretofore constructed, aresubject to more or less constant wear and strain, and Tiable to bepunctured and rendered worthless, and also that the metallic connectionsusually employedfor inflation and retention of air by constant use areliable to and do frequently become leaky. I recognize confined air asthe best medium that can be practically employed for the attainment ofbuoyancy; and one object of my invention is to so construct air-filledcushions or mattresses that when used as such they will be relieved fromthose strains which would ordinarily be liable to injure such articlesas usually heretofore constructed.

Another object of my invention is to so construct such articles thatwhen by accident or wear and rough usage their buoyancy is impaired, bythe loss of their capacity to securely retain the air with which theyhave been charged, they will nevertheless continue to possess alife-saving buoyant capacity as nearly approximating to that of theair-filled articles as it is in my judgment possible to obtain.

Another object of myinvention is to provide buoyant matter or materialwhich, although soft and yielding, will not be liable to become undulysolidified or matted, and which may from time to time be readily shakenup and restored to its original condition.

To more particularly describe my invention, I will refer to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a top view of a series ofboat-cushions embodying my invention. Figs.

2, 3, and 4 are respectively a side view and longitudinal and lateralsections of the same.

Although in my drawings I have only illustrated my invention as appliedto stern-cushions for row-boats, or for the cockpits of small yachts, itwill be ample for illustrating the application of; the several featuresof my invention to mattresses and to cushions for chairs, settees, &c.

Referring to the drawings, itis to be understood that the exteriorcasing of the life-saving cushion or mattress is to be composed of 60.

waterproofed and air-tight flexible materialpreferably woolen or cottonclothhaving an exterior face which is natural to the fabric, and thusafford the general appearance of ordinary cushions or mattresses. Forservice 6 where style or finish is of little consequence the exteriorface may be composed of a layer of water-proof composition. Each mainair chamber or casing A is provided with an air injecting anddischarging tube, a, guarded by 0 a screw-plug or other form of valve,all in a manner common to well-known flexible air-' filled articlesadapted to life-saving purposes. One portion of my invention consists inthe combination, with such a flexible air-tight chamber, of an interiorbuoyant cushion, B, which is of sufficiently smaller size to affordample space around it, or between it and the interior walls of the mainair chamber or casing, to provide for the reception and retention 8 of asufficient volume of air to secure the degree of buoyancy desired ineach case. The presence of the interior buoyant cushion enables thearticle to be used as a seat or mattress without unduly straining themain air 8 chamber or casing, and this I. believe to be an entirelynovel feature, regardless of the particular construction of saidinterior cushion, serving as a weight-supporting medium. It is of courseimportant that said interior cush- 0 ion should of itself be buoyant, inorder that the buoyancy of the whole structure be not materiallyimpaired. It is desirable, too, that the interior cushion should hefilled with soft yielding and at the same time elastic material. 5Sponge, cork, or hair may be employed as a filling, as well as manyother substances commonly used for filling ordinary cushions andmattresses,without departure from this portion of my invention, for itis obvious that, regardless of its particular kind of filling, saidcushion will serve as a medium for protecting the.

air-chamber from such strains as it would be exposed to it there'we'reno interior cushion to bear the weight of persons sitting or recliningthereon. It will readily be seen, however, that it is desirable and evenimportant that said filling be of a specially buoyant character, for ifthe outer and inner casings, c and I), should both get punctured spongeor hair, for instance, would deprive the cushion of that buoyancy whichit should in its best form possess under all adverse circumstances.Granulated cork, however, serves an excellent purpose, for it is readilyshaken up from time to time and kept light and soft as a mass, andshould water get to it considerable time must elapse before its buoyantproperty would be materiallyimpaired. Although comparatively expensive,a cushion filled with small air-tight hollow flexible balls is found tobe admirably fitted for my purpose, although it is to be distinctlyunderstood that I am aware'that such cushions and mattresses are notnew, and they can only enter into my invention as a part thereof whencombined with an exterior flexible air-tight chamber, as described, forrelieving said chamber from compressing strains, and serving in itselfas a buoyant medium in the event of the possible deficiencies inbuoyancy of said outer chamber or casing. Having economy in view,however, I have devoted my attention to granulated cork or other lightporous woody matter, which, in accordance with one feature of myinvention, is treated with a water-repellent, so that each piece orparticle of cork permeated with air-cells is rendered practicallywatertight, and therefore practically incapable of saturation, andtherefore it is similar in some respects to the hollow balls beforereferred to. It is desirable that the water-repellent employed be ofsuch character as will not cause the pieces of cork to mat orconsolidate with each other materially, or cause them to lose theirindividual elasticity, and thereby render the mass undesirable as acushioning medium. The cork may be treated with fair results withvarious solutions containing water-proof gums--as, for instance, a lightsolutionof naphtha and caoutchouc or rubber cement-with or without suchmineral bodies added thereto as will enable the cork when thus treatedto undergo the process of vulcanization. When thus treated each particleof cork is incased in a light film, and the interstices are'sealed bythe caoutchouc. I claim it to be-novel to specially treat cork for thispurpose, and.

sustain the weights placed thereon.

ploy lamp-black in connection with cork, although I am well aware thatit is not new'to employ lamp-black as a buoyant medium in can-buoys andin life-saving buoys of "arious kinds other than such as are flexible.

The granulated 'cork may of course be varied as tothe size of theparticles; but I should prefer not to use it larger than, say,one-halfinch in diameter, commingled with particles so fine. as to becommonly termed cork-dust but I do not thereby mean toinclude powderedcork, as in my judgment nothing which will pass through a screen of,say, three-sixteenths of an inch mesh would be desirable. To each poundof cork I apply, say, two ounces of good dry lamp-black, and tumble themass in a revolving barrel for several hours. The proportion oflamp-black may, however, belargely varied without materiallyaifectingthe desired results, although care should be taken to avoidsuch excess of lamp-black as would be liable to result in the matting orsolidifying of the mass under the pressures incident to the ordinary useof cushions or mattresses.

Referringto the drawings, I will state the desirability of having in aseries of boat and yacht cushionstitted to a certain outline the strapsand buckles d,by which the several cushions may be connected for bettermaintaining them in position with relation to each other while in use ascushions, and being unsecured to the boat they can be readily thrownover board in case of accident and afford a reliable buoy for severalpersons without liability of their separation. It is also desirable thateach section have separate holding straps or loops 0, which may bereadily and firmly grasped, and through which the arms of a person maybe passed,if desired. The partioularconstruction of the casing fortheinner and outer cushions, and their mode of union one to the other,may obviously be largely varied. I prefer that the cork-tilled cushionhave a casing which shall be water-tight and air-tight, but not soinflated that the cushioning material cannot It made of fabric coatedwith vulcanizable compound, the vulcanizing process need not be applieduntil the cushion has been filled, and the openin g can .then be tightlyclosed with a gum joint; or the casing may first be vulcanized with onlya small opening left at one corner for the introduction of the cork,850., after which said opening may be tightly sealed by suitable folds,

heavy stitching, and the proper use of rubber v main a buoyant capacityof great life-saving value. Should the inner cushion be also puncturedand Wateradmittedto its filling,itsbuoyant capacity would of course bediminished, but it nevertheless will serve as a reliable support. Acushion, say, twenty-fourinches long, sixteen inches wide, and aboutfour inches thick, at its best will support'from four to six persons inthe water, and if the same cushion bepierced through and through, aswith aknife, in several places, it will still support about half as manypeople, and its buoyant capacity will be maintained for many hours, thelamp-black being capable of protecting the cork from water, even ifexposed thereto for several days.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. A lifesaving mattress or cushion embodying incombination, substantially as hereinbefore described, anexteriorflexible airtight casin g and an interior casing filled with asuitable zo cushioning medium.

2. A'life-savin g mattress or cushion embodying in combination,substantially as hereinbefore described, an exterior flexible air-ti ght casing, an interior casing, and a filling for said in- 42g

